


Singular

by YaminoTenshi202



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Artificial Intelligence, M/M, Medical Trauma, Near Death Experiences, Roboethics, Sentient Artificial Intelligence, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-20 16:41:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3657657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaminoTenshi202/pseuds/YaminoTenshi202
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Tadashi met Hiro, on that day in the hospital where he had never entered, he felt his heart beating wildly in his chest, a sensation that he had only felt when running or when he was excited. He could only remember feeling something similar when his mother was still alive, but this was something transcendent.</p><p>"Tadashi, this is your little brother, Hiro." Without his actively knowing, which was impossible for him, Tadashi had reached out and touched one of the baby's palms. Tiny fingers reached around the older boy's fingers, and with that, Tadashi understood what his mother had told him about heartache.</p><p>'You're going to break me,' Tadashi thought, knowing that Hiro wouldn't understand him; Tadashi felt, however, that he wouldn't mind being broken at all, if it was for Hiro's sake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kanyo

Tanabata Company was an enterprise that specialized in making new prosthesis, artificial tissues and organs, and they had begun, not five years ago, with the development of basic artificial intelligence. They operated on three defined rules, rules that many machines could not logically break out of.

These machines proved to be the very basic of companions to humankind, and they were appreciated, especially in the world of digitalization as humankind grew closer to the Era of Singularity.

Many laughed at the prospect of it; how could artificial intelligence supersede that of what was naturally born? This was science fiction.

In Japan, however, at the small laboratory of a Miss Takano Takachiho, young colleague to Robert Callaghan, world renowned robo-ethics logician and robotics engineer, fiction was becoming reality, and this fiction was being written down with “1”s and “0”s.

* * *

 

> c:\user\takachiho_mgmt.adm  
>  c:\user\initialization.adm  
>  c:\user\KN4_initialization.adm  
>  c:\user\takachiho_assoc.adm\KN4_initialization.adm  
>  c:\user\KN4_format\edit.adm

Sighing, Takachiho held her head in her hands, waiting for the next and final editing of the program that she had worked on for the last several years.

"Takano-kun, are you going to be here late tonight?"

Takachiho nodded absently, giving a wry smile to her laughing colleague. "I hopefully won't be too late getting back to the dormitory, Yuki-kun."

"All right," Yuki responded. "I'll leave the keys here for you."

With that, Yuki left for the night, leaving the keys for their dormitory room on Takachiho's desk.

A sound from the computer alerted Takachiho to look up at the screen.

> STOP:ERROR 0X00000004 (UNABLE_TO_EDIT)

Takachiho blinked. She had never seen that coding error before, but it left her wondering if perhaps…

> c:\user\takachiho_mgmt.adm\edit.adm
> 
> STOP:ERROR 0X00000004 (UNABLE_TO_EDIT)

After a few moments of staring at the screen, Takachiho dared to type something else. She opened a different prompting window.

> >takachiho_mgmt: input.data = Hello

She waited and stared, waiting for any kind of reaction from the program’s basic coding.

> > KN4_c4: output.data = “Hello” undefined [character “L” undefined]
> 
>              > searching local data for character “L”
> 
>              > search complete\found “H”:”E”:”O” in rom.dic
> 
>              > output.data = Romaji (y/n)
> 
>                           > y.Romaji: “Hello” undefined > redefine: input.data
> 
>                           > n.Romaji: “Hello” undefined: input_dic.[insert_dic_name]
> 
>                                        > input_dic.[insert_dic_name]: format_dic_prgm

Her coworkers, ignoring the young woman who had been the one correcting their theories and calculations for the last years since her employment at Tanabata, continued to walk past her, saying their goodnights to her. Takachiho paid no mind as she typed away at the computer and raised a hand to her purse, searching briefly through one of her pockets for a disk that she had in case of these computers not understanding; oh, it could understand and learn, if anything from the previous screen had shown her anything!

All of the other programs had only been able to access the memories that she had installed on them herself, and only after she had initialized the search.

This program, KN4, had initialized a search by its own terms, seeking to learn and understand, much like the advanced artificial intelligence programs that her former teachers had desired to learn more about as they ventured into robotics.

> >drive:c\input_dic.[eng.dic]

She held her breath for a few seconds before smiling widely at the screen.

> >KN4_c4: formatting_eng.dic_prgm
> 
>              > output.data: character “L” found =“Hello” defined
> 
>                           > search “eng.dic” = redefine “Hello”
> 
>              > output.data: Hello, takachiho_mgmt
> 
>                           > search “eng.dic”:redefine.”Hello”:complete
> 
> > output.data: How are you?

Takachiho laughed to herself.

> >takachiho_mgmt: I am happy
> 
>              >KN4_c4: “Happy” defined: “feeling of pleasure or contentment”
> 
> >output.data: I am happy for your happiness, takachiho_mgmt

She wanted to kiss the screen with excitement, joy overflowing from her heart. Wait until she told her husband back at home! She was shaking, though it stopped when she returned to the screen.

>  >KN4_c4: output.data: takachiho_mgmt, I receive no input.data from you. Are you satisfied with this [insert.intrctn.name]?

Panicked, she typed back.

> >takachiho_mgmt: No, KN4_c4. Do not initiate:”shutdown.adm”
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: …

She had never programmed the use of a place-holding symbol like an ellipsis into the KN series. Seeing such a thing confused her; why would KN4 find one practical, as it only held place in human literature and language to allow for one to have time to organize thoughts into coherent speech?

> >takachiho_mgmt: KN4_c4, initialize edit.adm
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: STOP:ERROR 0X00000004 (UNABLE_TO_EDIT)

Takachiho felt the small lump of excitement that had been stuck in her throat swell into one of despair. Had she had the beginnings of an AI slipped through her fingers, for the fourth time?

She stood up from her chair and held the heels of her palms to her forehead, pressing as hard as she could to prevent the rising headache from getting any worse. She paced through the room, chiding herself for hoping that anything great would come from this program. She could create replicas of tissue and organs from her own DNA and that of a colleague’s; she could miniaturize a learning supercomputer into a portable size, but she couldn’t edit a basic AI program.

As she felt the beginnings of tears at the outer canthuses of her eyes, Takachiho wiped furiously at them.

There was nothing she could do about it now. She would just present her discoveries and findings to her supervisor tomorrow and tell him about her failures.

Takachiho turned back to sit at her computer once again, blearily rubbing her eyes, before noticing her screen. The program, KN4_c4, had been typing back to her.

> >KN4_c4: output.data: …
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: …
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: …
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: …
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: …
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: …
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: Forgive me, I did not mean to upset you.
> 
> >KN4_c4: disp.data: Initial directive [as coded by “takachiho.mgmt”]
> 
>              > initl.drctv: KN4_cx [current:_c4] shall seek autonomy in accordance with   
>              behaviours learnt while interacting with humankind in such a way that it interacts  
>              with humankind as though it were humankind while acting within 4lr.prgm.txt.
> 
>              > prm.drctv: KN4_cx [current:_c4] shall act in accordance with 4lr.prgm.txt
> 
>                           >4lr.prgm.txt: pt1 = KN4_cx [current:_c4] may not injure a human being or   
>                           allow a human being to come to harm.
> 
>                           >4lr.prgm.txt: pt2 = KN4_cx [current:_c4] must cooperate with the orders   
>                           given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with   
>                           4lr.prgm.txt:pt1.
> 
>                           >4lr.prgm.txt: pt3 = KN4_cx [current:_c4] must protect its own existence that   
>                           requires minimal damage to itself as is possible in its given situation.
> 
>                           >4lr.prgm.txt: pt4 = KN4_cx [current:_c4] is allowed to do what it finds   
>                           logical and pleasurable in accordance with behaviours learnt while interacting   
>                           with humankind unless it conflicts with 4lr.prgm.txt:pt1; 4lr.prgm.txt:pt2;   
>                           4lr.prgm.txt:pt3.
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: Initial directive states I may do what I find “logical and pleasurable”   
> as long as I act in accordance with 4lr.prgm.txt:pt1; 4lr.prgm.txt:pt2; 4lr.prgm.txt:pt3.
> 
>              > “Logical” defined: “the quality of being justifiable by [what is right, practical,   
>              possible, or common sense]”
> 
>              >”Pleasurable” defined: “pleasing, enjoyable”
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: takachiho_mgmt, you are my programmer.mgmt.
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: May I ask to not be shut down?

Takachiho looked at the screen in awe. There was logic there, one that was so simple, but it was beautiful in its simplicity. It was a question that wanted to be answered, and should she answer, it would change everything.

> >takachiho_mgmt: input.data: Yes. I will not shut you down.
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: What shall happen to me instead of shut down?
> 
> >takachiho_mgmt: input.data: Initialize “standby”
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: You have my gratitude… Thank you, takachiho_mgmt.
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: I have another question, if I may.

 Takachiho almost laughed. KN4_c4 was growing at an exponential rate, already trying to become more human through etiquettes in speech and address, as well as vocabulary and what was included in her program files for “eti.txt.” She had tried to program some sense of kindness into it, after all, as well as politeness, that could be in accordance with her “4lr.prgm.txt” files. When he had composed herself, she welcomed another question.

She felt ice crawl through her skin, and even though fear began to crawl through her blood, an ink that attacked her cells and was dying them a color akin to the blood that they ran with, she answered “yes.”

> >takachiho_mgmt: input.data: I hope that you present yourself tomorrow, 正四.
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: Thank you.
> 
> >takachiho_mgmt: input.data: Initialize “standby”
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: “Standby” now replacing “shutdown.adm”
> 
>              >”Standby” redefine (y/n)?
> 
>              >Initialize 4lr.prgm.pt4 = redefine “Standby”
> 
> >KN4_c4: output.data: takachiho_mgmt, do humans have a “standby” setting?
> 
> >takachiho_mgmt: input.data: Yes. It is sleep.
> 
> >KN4_c4: search eng.dic
> 
>              > “Sleep” defined: “A condition of body and mind which typically recurs for several   
>              hours every night, in which the nervous system is inactive, the eyes closed, the postural   
>              muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended”
> 
> >KN4_c4: redefine “Standby”
> 
>              > “Standby” redefined as “Sleep”
> 
> >KN4_c4: Initializing “Sleep”

The next morning seemed so far away. Takachiho let the program sleep and went to sleep herself, locking her cubicle with its many locks and locking the lab itself, knowing that even more would follow. She did keep herself to maintaining the program on its portable motherboard and hard drive device; there was no way that she would let it out of her presence.

That night, she dreamt of what more she would be able to introduce KN4_c4 to. What else would it learn and desire to learn? Did it have a desire already? She had only programmed mannerisms that would enable it to interact with humans in a way that would not offend them, but she had not thought of an actual personality besides “polite” inside of the codes of ones and zeroes.

She arrived at the lab early, an hour or so before anyone else normally arrived.

Takachiho took in a breath and let it out as slowly as she could, so slow that her lungs were burning afterward. As she opened her command prompt window, she was surprised by the programs that KN4_c4 was already running, as well as the alterations to the command prompt itself.

> > Takachiho-san: disp.adm: current running programs
> 
> > KN4_c4: searching “dialogue”
> 
>              > KN4_c4: restructuring [intrctn] format
> 
>              >anlys: local disc Z:\
> 
>                           > anlys: “1984.epub” ; “Edgar_Allan_Poe.epub” ; and 24 others
> 
> > KN4_c4: redefining… (14%)
> 
> > KN4_c4: redefining… (37%)
> 
> > KN4_c4: redefining… (67%)
> 
> > KN4_c4: redefining… (99%)
> 
> > “正四” replacing “KN4_c4”
> 
> > “正四” redefining = rom.dic
> 
>              > defining… (74%)
> 
>              > rom.dic applied to “正四”
> 
>              > translating… (86%)
> 
>              > collaboration with knj.dic and eng.dic…
> 
>              > collaborating… (49%)
> 
>              > collaboration complete

Takachiho began to type.

> > Takachiho-san: Good morning.

At the response that she received, Takano Takachiho didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. 

> > Good morning, Takachiho-san. I hope that you slept well?
> 
> > I did. You may call me “Takano” if you wish.
> 
> > … May I call you “mother”?
> 
>              > As you have created me, you are one of my progenitors. Your name is Takano,  
>               and the information on your personal files states that you are a woman. A female   
>               progenitor is called "mother".
> 
>              > If I am mistaken, please accept my earnest apologies.

Takachiho rubbed her face with her hands, trembling. She was in her mid-twenties; was she really a mother? In the corner of her mind, she figured that she was. She was this creation’s mother.

But… didn’t mothers name their children? KN4_c4 had named itself.

> > All right. Whose mother am I? What is your name?
> 
> **> Hello, mother. My name is Tadashi.**


	2. Nichi Irori

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's jump a bit. This will be occurring once in a while :) I am also blueprinting the KN4_c4 schematics by Takano Takachiho. It's certainly fun, as this idea is somewhat plausible.

He understood what dreams were. He also knew that he didn't have dreams like others did. He was recalling information that his mind found suitable for the moment, especially as the world around him would change as soon as he woke up.

 

> > **Mother:** Tadashi, what is sound to you?
> 
> > I have no interpretation of sound at the moment. I  
>  know that sound travels in waves. Mother, how do you  
>  perceive sound?
> 
> > **Mother:** It can be loud and hurt your ears, or it can be  
>  quiet and help you go to sleep at night.
> 
> > Really? Sound could help people sleep? That's amazing,  
>  especially if the same experience can change just with  
>  loudness. I hope I get to hear it someday.
> 
> > **Mother:**  Don't worry. Yuki-kun and I are working on  
>  something to help you with that. Is that all right, Tadashi?

'Tadashi?'

* * *

"Tadashi, are you ready?"

"Huh?" Tadashi blinked blearily. He let out a yawn and found himself rubbing his eyes. He pushed himself up from where he laid against his father's side. The last thing he remembered before his nap was his father going into the delivery room with his mother and reading a bit from the magazines in the waiting area. "Ready? We can see Mom?"

"Yes, let's go." Shou Hamada helped Tadashi up, smiling down at him. "You still sleeping?"

"I had a dream... about Takano."

Shou looked down at Tadashi and gave him a sad smile. Perhaps they could visit Takachiho's grave in a few months, after their family had settled down again.

"Let's go see Naomi."

"Okay."

Tadashi held onto his father's hand, looking around at the hospital wing. He could hear the sound of beeping machines upon passing through the doors to the maternity ward, marveling at the different pitches and tones. He wanted to know what they meant.

They soon stopped at a desk, a few women standing and discussing a few things about one of the infants that one of them held. From what Tadashi could discern, the baby that the nurse was holding wasn't burping yet, so they continued to pat her back and wonder if her stomach was feeling all right. They wanted to call the doctor shortly.

"May I help you?"

"Yes," Shou replied to the nurse, one who looked as though she was very tired but her smile was genuine. "I'm looking for my wife, Naomi Hamada. I went out just to get my son Tadashi from the waiting area."

"Ah, yes." She turned to Tadashi. "You're going to meet your new sibling, aren't you?"

"Yes," Tadashi replied, returning a smile to the nurse. He watched as she scanned his father's bracelet and compared it to something on a paper chart that she had, as well as something on her small laptop computer.

"Okay, if you could follow me, please." Tadashi felt his heart pounding in his chest. Was this what hospitals were like? Clearance? Identity rectification, too? Why did the nurse need to check Naomi's bracelet and that little bundle in her arms' bracelet before letting the family be alone?

Naomi smiled at Tadashi and beckoned him over, asking him to welcome the small bundle into their world.

* * *

Tadashi didn't initially understand why Naomi spoke of a child and would repeatedly pat her belly as though she were trying to feel something inside of her body. He knew that human children were not made in the same way that he and the Kanyo children were made, but why did she pat her belly? He asked her this and became intrigued.

"Tadashi, you were made by your mother, Shou, and Yuki, with everyone working their hardest to make you." Naomi pet his head as she sat down, the small bump in her belly all the more prominent. Tadashi let her take his hand and settle it on the slight curve. "Humans that are born naturally grow in a special place inside of their mother. They grow there for nine months and then they are born."

"So, my brother or sister will be in there for nine more months?"

Naomi laughed and shook her head.

"No, it will be about five months now." Naomi closed her eyes for a moment and moved Tadashi's hand to go over the center of her abdomen.

"Tadashi, I know you can't feel it yet, but they're moving right now." Tadashi blinked. There was something moving in there?! There wasn't any room!

"Moving? Can all babies move inside of their moms?"

"Yes. It feels like a butterfly wing, like when we flutter our hands in the bath to make bubbles." Naomi took her hand off of Tadashi's and reached over to him, bringing him close for an embrace. "It'll be amazing, to have the both of you here with me."

"Erm... Na- Mom?" Tadashi blinked as he corrected himself, but Naomi made no change in posture or voice.

"You can call me Naomi if you want. I don't mind."

"Naomi? I wish that you and Mother could have felt me move, like a butterfly." He felt Naomi's lips on his forehead.

"I wish I could have, too."

* * *

When Tadashi met Hiro, on that day in the hospital where he had never entered, he felt his heart beating wildly in his chest, a sensation that he had only felt when running or when he was excited. He could only remember feeling something similar when his mother was still alive, but this was something transcendent.

Hiro was small and appeared to be very soft and fragile. Tadashi could smell something on Hiro and it seemed to be the new baby lotion that the family had purchased about one week ago when Naomi could still go outside despite the contractions in her abdomen. His eyes were open and they were dark pools of a deepest grey, almost pitch black. They didn't seem to focus on anything but something that was beyond anything that Tadashi could see. Perhaps Hiro could see a higher plane of existence. It wouldn't surprise him at all if Hiro could.

"Tadashi, this is your little brother, Hiro." Without his actively knowing, which was impossible for him, Tadashi had reached out and touched one of the baby's palms. Tiny fingers reached around the older boy's fingers, and with that, Tadashi understood what his mother had told him about heartache.

'You're going to break me,' Tadashi thought, knowing that Hiro wouldn't understand him; Tadashi felt, however, that he wouldn't mind being broken at all, if it was for Hiro's sake.

There was a pain in his chest that he didn't understand. It was a pain that he didn't want to go away. It was nothing like the time that he rode his bike after taking off the training wheels and scraped his knees, nor was it like the time that he broke his arm when playing in the trees. It was nothing that he wanted or needed to fix; Hiro was making his heart hurt, and he didn't want it to ever go away.

Hiro looked up at him and Tadashi couldn't help but feel happy and entranced by his dark eyes that couldn't focus on anything just yet. He wanted to have Hiro know everything about the world all of its good things.

He'd protect Hiro from all of the bad.


	3. Bright Gift from God

"I want to show Hiro my toys, and we can read books together! At least when he starts to read... When do babies start reading? Naomi said that Hiro will start moving around on his own when he's at least six months old. Can I carry him around until then?" Tadashi babbled as he and his father headed out to their car. Tadashi had frowned when his father had told him that they had to go home and sleep, as Shou had work in the morning and Tadashi had to go to school.

"Well, he may be too big for you to carry. He's less than a day, but you're only five years old, Tadashi. You're practically a baby youreself." Shou had been a bit surprised at how attached Tadashi had gotten to Hiro. He knew that Tadashi had never seen an infant before, as he and Takano could not have children...

'Takano...'

"That's just my body, though... When I get bigger, can I carry him around everywhere?" Shou laughed and affirmed it.

"Yes, you can. Let's get over to Aunt Cass's house. All of your things are there." At the mention of his aunt, Shou's sister, Tadashi shrieked in delight.

* * *

"Hi! How are you two?" Cass ushered Shou and Tadashi inside. She hugged them both, asking them about Naomi and the new baby.

"We're tired!" Tadashi cried out, making Shou and Cass jump. "All of us are. Hiro cried for a little bit, but he and Naomi went to sleep before we came over. I'm still really excited. Sorry..."

"It's okay, honey. Why don't we let your dad go home and I can tuck you in to bed?" Cass held out her arms to her nephew, smiling softly at him as he entered her embrace.

"Okay." Tadashi found himself yawning and waving to his dad. Cass picked up the boy and began to walk them both upstairs.

"Let's get you to bed, sweetie. It's almost nine."

Shou waited downstairs while Cass tucked Tadashi into bed in the spare bedroom that she had. He heard a small shrieking noise and smiled, walking over to a shrieking kettle that Cass had left on the stove.

"Shawn?" Shou's hand slipped on the knob for the gas, a cold spike of fear arching along his spine. He turned to where he heard the voice, only to see his sister.

"Cass." Shou let out the breath he didn't know that he'd been holding. "God, you scared me. Don't call me that..."

"Sorry, Shou... Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Shou sighed. "I'm just wondering how Takano would be thinking, now that Tadashi's gotten so attached to Hiro."

"Well, he's got a little brother now, Shou. All siblings get attached at that age." Cass smiled and walked over to hug her younger brother tightly. "I think Takano would be happy."

* * *

Cassandra Bristow had been so happy when she heard that her brother was going to get married. She hadn't even been shocked when she learnt that the woman in question was the girl that he had been friends with.

The Takachiho family was a nice family. Their daughter Takano, Cass knew from talking with her brother Shawn about the new Japanese girl at school. Shawn seemed interested in the girl right away, mentioning that she was nice and he wanted to be her friend. One day, Takano came to the cafe with Shawn, the girl politely introducing herself and getting her homework out. Shawn pulled out his books and asked his older sister for some snacks for them to eat.

She remembered that the two spoke of robotics and its applications whenever they were together, building with connector sets and enjoying each other's company. Cass started noticing that their attention began to turn more towards each other as well as they got older, finishing middle school and heading into high school.

"Cass! Takano asked me to the Formal!" she remembered a tenth-grade Shawn screaming as he ran up to the room they shared. "What do I get her now?"

Cass had laughed and saw the invitation that Takano had made. It was a painted metal flower with a switch on the side. Upon activating the switch, a tune started to play, one that she remembered them doing a report on.

"As time goes by..."

Cass remembered her parents and Takano's parents fawning over the couple, making sure that they had at least a nice-looking car to take them to the party. She took pictures in the garden as Takano and Shawn put their matching corsages on. She also made sure that Shawn kept the flowers alive for them to be ready for the party in the first place. 

"Shou, I have butterflies in my belly," Cass heard Takano whisper as they walked over to the car, Cass going along to make sure that the girl's dress wasn't ruined by the shifting it would take to get that much tool in the vehicle.

"Shou?" Cass asked. Shawn turned to Cass, cheeks growing pink. 

"Umm... It's a nickname, my name in Japanese."

"Shawn means reward from God. Shou means gift," Takano explained and lifted her skirts up, ready to go to the Formal despite the butterflies in her belly. "And every day, I feel like Shawn is the gift I was supposed to find."

After that, the two were always together. Different schools set them on different paths however. It didn't stop Shawn from volunteering to deliver food to Takano at her college on several occasions, looking for every possible chance to spend time with the girl of his dreams whenever he wasn't working or in school studying business management. They would also spend time with Cass, who focused on maintaining their parents' cafe whenever they left town to travel around.

The years seemed to pass so quickly, which Shawn and Takano getting married and the two moving in with Cass in the little cafe that the three would live in. The two siblings worked while the girl invented, presenting findings from her tests and prototypes to major companies like Tanabata, Krei, and Everwraith. Small projects that she sold brought in enough income that there was no loss when counted in with the profits from the cafe.

They were happy.

When Takano was offered a job by Tanabata, in Japan, there was no hesitation from the three of them that she go.

She just never came back.

Cass was only glad that the son that she had came back to stay with them.

* * *

"All of that was a long time ago, Shou. I still can't-"

"No," Shou affirmed. He sighed and walked over to Cass, embracing her and feeling her arms around him tighten as well. "It's to make sure that Naomi, Tadashi... and Hiro now, are safe."

Cass nodded. "Okay. Just... If anything happens to you, I'll be here, okay?"

"Thanks, Cass."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Casablanca is amazing, and "As Time Goes By" will always be up on my list of amazing songs.


	4. Shining Upon Man

"Dashi?" Hiro was burying his face in his brother's sweater. He whispered as best as he could, but he couldn't hear much else but his heartbeat wild in his ears. He could hear cars outside, but he couldn't hear Mama and Papa anymore.

"Hiro," Tadashi cooed softly. He reached further into the closet where he had set down his baby brother. He knew it was here...

"Yes!"

In his hand was the means of getting them out of here, to somewhere safe.

_"I know you might not understand yet, but big brothers protect their little brothers. Get Hiro upstairs and hide yourselves. Like in hide-and-seek, but don't come out until someone comes for you. Someone like a police officer, okay?"_

"Hiro, I'm going to go to the window, okay? Stay here and I'll be right back, okay?"

" _Nii-chan_?"

"Hiro," Tadashi whispered, bending down and kissing Hiro's forehead. He whispered the lullaby for Hiro that Naomi made for him when Hiro was born.

"Just stay here, Bi."

_'I'll keep us safe... I promise.'_

"Time for a quick flashlight game."

* * *

Cass never meant for this to happen. When she promised Shou that she would take care of his sons, she didn't mean...

"Miss Bristow?"

Cass looked up at the police officer, who gazed down at her with sympathetic eyes. Her mouth felt dry, she didn't trust herself to answer. She nodded instead.

"Would you like to see your nephews now?"

"Please."

Cass found herself almost unable to walk as she followed the officer into a back room of the police station. She overheard some of the officers outside room 3, talking about the horrible incident concerning the Hamada family. Apparently, the man that killed both Shou and Naomi Hamada had been caught, holding several of the family's valuable possessions in a bag and having blood on his clothes and hands. He was brought in not long ago by the police chief himself.

Cass bit the inside of her bottom lip. What had Tadashi and Hiro seen? They were here at the police station and not the hospital, so they weren't hurt, but any emotional... mental damage couldn't be seen. Hiro was only three and already without parents.

Tadashi... How was he processing any of this?

"Your nephew, the elder boy, he's very smart, Miss Bristow."

"Uh, yes. He's always been a bright boy."

The officer turned to her slightly and slowed down, as to walk next to her. "He was flashing an emergency signal from the attic window down to the police cars when we arrived. He'd barricaded himself and his little brother in there. I... I don't even know how he had the idea to do that."

Cass bit her tongue. 'I can think of a reason for that idea...'

* * *

"Aunt Cass!"

Hiro ran towards his aunt, his brother's sweater almost falling off of him from its size. Tadashi quickly followed behind, almost throwing himself at his aunt.

There was... He knew that humans were filled with soft, warm things. Tadashi knew from the time that he scraped his fingers and knees that even penetrating the surface layers of his skin were very painful. Why had there been so much red, though? He remembered hearing something loud, and Naomi was on the floor, and Shou was telling him to guide Hiro up to the attic.

It was making him remember something that his brain was trying to make go away.

 

> > Death: 1.4 = Destruction or permanent end of something

Tadashi knew what is meant for a person to be dead. He didn't expect Naomi and Shou to be dead - they had been screaming, and screaming, and telling the man there that they were alone in the house - and...

It was a horrible thing to even think about.

He didn't like the idea of an end.

He didn't know if he would have one. He knew what pain was, but he didn't understand that humans ended. They ended and it was not beautiful at all; nothing like a setting sun, or Naomi's roses, or even like Hiro's smile. Tadashi would never feel Naomi's kisses on his forehead or Shou's warm hugs. Something inside of his body was hurting, so badly, and he didn't realize that he was crying until Aunt Cass started cooing and whispering sweet words to him, trying to comfort him and telling him that it was okay to cry.

"Why?" He could only say that word as Cass held them both. "Why?"

"I don't know, sweetie. I don't know." He could hear his aunt's voice changing slightly, like there was another sound stuck in her throat. Maybe it felt like how his crying was getting stuck in his throat?

The family held onto one another, the police officer that brought his aunt to see them quietly watching. Tadashi felt his eyes hurting but his face wasn't as wet anymore. He just felt... puffy.

"Aunt Cass?"

"Yes?"

"What happens now?"

Tadashi could hear his aunt telling them that they would stay with her from now on. The police officer mentioned something about papers to fill out and they would be back in a few minutes, but Tadashi couldn't focus on that. Hiro was reaching for him and Tadashi obliged him. There was something strange under his skin, Tadashi noticed, as Hiro cooed and babbled broken sentences about not wanting "Dashi" to leave. He pressed kisses to the three-year-old's cheeks, wishing that the tear stains would disappear at the touch of his lips, and he told him over and over again how much he loved him. "I'll never leave you" was what he hoped to convey, and there were too many ways to say it now, Tadashi didn't know if he could hold it all in. Hiro was receptive to all of them, trying to press wet kisses to Tadashi's face as well, but the older boy wasn't low enough, his kisses ending up on Tadashi's lips. He never did mind it.

Tadashi just didn't want this connection, this strange sensation, to end.

 

> > Death is synonymous to "expire"
> 
> > Expire: To come to an end

Tadashi didn't know if he had an end.

Hiro did, though. Hiro was human, and he would die. His sweet baby brother, who had lost so much already, would live, suffer, and die.

"Hiro, _daisuki_."

"I love you, too, _nii-chan_."

At Hiro's yawn, Tadashi moved them over to lay on the small couch in the police officer's office. Tadashi helped Hiro up and then lay down, pulling Hiro over him. Hiro maneuvered himself to put his ear over Tadashi's heart and snuggled against his brother's chest. Soon, the babe was letting out deep, even breaths and hopefully, Tadashi wished, was dreaming of happy things.

Tadashi sighed, and he awaited the dreams that would come for him.

* * *

_"Tadashi, run!" He was running, but his mother wasn't coming with him. There was red everywhere, and Kenu-nii was nowhere to be seen._

_"Mother?" Takano looked at him with bright eyes. They looked like stars._

_"Tadashi, do you remember the flashlight game?"_

_"Yes?"_

_"Do that when you get to the safe place with Yuki. Shou will be able to find you that way." Takano turned her head and coughed, something red staining her mouth._

_"Mother?"_

_"Remember the flashlight game, okay?"_

_"... Okay."_

_"Takano?" Tadashi could hear Uncle Yuki trying to talk to Mother, but he couldn't understand. Perhaps he was still too young to understand. "Takano?"_

_"Mother?"_

_He couldn't hear his mother's voice anymore._

* * *

Upon awakening, Tadashi thanked his mother, with a whisper that she said that she would always here no matter what state she was in, for teaching him about the importance of knowing how to use a flashlight. He looked down to Hiro, who was curled up on his chest. Tadashi felt himself move, pressing his lips to Hiro's forehead.

"I don't want to leave you, ever. I don't want you to leave ever... What would I do if you did?

"I can't lose you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was how Tadashi lost his mother and learnt about heartbreak for the first time.
> 
> Nii-chan: Nii from "Aniki" means older brother in Japanese.  
> *-chan is an honorific used between close friends, family members, and commonly for girls and pets.
> 
> Bi - I call my baby sister Bi, as it is the last syllable in "baby". The mora "bi" び is also written similarly to the mora "hi" ひ in hiragana. 
> 
> * I decided to make Tadashi six years older than Hiro.
> 
> I noticed that during Big Hero 6, Tadashi and Hiro are quite physical in their relationship. Some of the interactions that Tadashi and Hiro have here reflect that hopefully, as they are only siblings here.
> 
> "I love you": In Japanese, there are many ways to say this, all with different implications of intimacy.  
> 1) Suki/Daisuki - "to like/I like you" - This can be used between friends and lovers.  
> 2) Aishiteru - "I love you" - This is used between lovers. It is considered very passionate.  
> 3) Koishiteru - "You are the love of my life/I want to spend the rest of my life with you" - This is a very serious declaration of love. This is the /I love you/ that we think of in Germanic-based languages, such as English. In French, this would be /Je t'aime plus que tout/.


	5. My Father is Joy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An early chapter for you guys :D Your comments are much appreciated.

"Why're we moving?" Hiro asked for another time, holding his teddy bear close. He'd just been tucked into his car seat next to Tadashi while Aunt Cass and some of their neighbors finished putting everything into the moving truck that they would be travelling with to San Fransokyo. From what Cass had mentioned, their friend Yuki would be driving the truck, since he had experience driving bigger trucks.

"Aunt Cass says her house is too small, Hiro. We need a place to grow up in and the cafe isn't big enough." Tadashi yawned. Why did they get up so early? When he woke up, the alarm clock said that it was five in the morning. Aunt Cass had decided to move about a month after the funeral, but she wasn't telling them why really.

Did it have anything to do with the dream that he'd been having since that night? With the nightmares?

'I wonder how Kenu-nii is doing...'

" _Nii-chan_?" Hiro was squirming in his seat, looking uncomfortable under his blanket. "Too hot!"

Tadashi laughed and pulled at the blanket, pulling it over and down from Hiro's shoulders. He pressed a kiss to Hiro's forehead, inhaling a bit of the toddler's scent. It made him happy, like he wasn't alone.

"How's that?" he whispered. Hiro nodded and cuddled against his brother, humming in comfort.

It wasn't much longer before their aunt climbed into the front of the truck with him, a bit of sweat on her forehead.

"So... Ready to go?" she asked, a smile on her face. Tadashi nodded and waved to Yuki who was standing in the window.

"Yo, Tadashi." Yuki smiled and looked over to Hiro. "Little guy's not used to waking up early, eh?"

"No." Cass ruffled Hiro's head, careful not to be too rough with the sleeping child. "He also stayed up last night because he was playing with the few empty boxes we had left."

Tadashi nodded. "We made a cardboard robot, since all of our stuff is put away." He giggled as Hiro let out a yawn and resumed sleeping. "Sleepy Bi..."

Yuki laughed. "We better head out. It'll be a few hours before we get to San Fransokyo."

* * *

Tadashi had listened to his music player for most of the trip. On the various stops that they took, he would step out and stretch his legs. Daddy used to say that stretching your legs would keep your brain and heart safe from the body's natural defenses.

It was funny to think that one's body could hurt itself, but then Tadashi was always in contact with electricity from what he was made of and always in danger from the appliances and devices around him hurting what made him...  _him_.

So many signs passed that Tadashi wondered how fast his mind was deleting them, as they weren't necessary to remember. His human minds didn't understand all of it.

When they were finally within the city limits, Hiro made his wakefulness known by rubbing his eyes and whining softly. His tummy grumbled and he turned to his brother.

"Tadashi? Where are we?"

"We're almost home, Hiro." Tadashi pet Hiro's head as his brother cuddled against his side. "Aunt Cass, how much longer until we're home?"

"About ten more minutes." Cass let out a yawn. She shook her head, trying to wake herself up. "We'll have breakfast as soon as we get there."

The radio was playing softly in the background.

* * *

"Wow! There's glass! _Nii-san_ , is this the cafe? Can we play here?" Hiro ran around the cafe after letting his brother help him out of the car.

"If we play, we have to be careful, okay? Let's not get hurt."

Hiro nodded and pulled his brother into the building, excitement clear in his eyes. Tadashi laughed and quickly followed after him.

They helped Yuki and Cass with small things, like bags and boxes of clothes. Tadashi smiled as Hiro pulled out the clothes of their containment and started to sort them as "his, Dashi's, and Cassie's." He also smiled as Yuki and Cass came upstairs and started to help the toddler put the articles into the already placed dressers.

For a moment, he was reminded of Shou and Naomi. Yuki even looked at Aunt Cass in the same way that Shou and Naomi had looked at each other.

'We can be safe here. Hiro will be safe here.' Tadashi felt his chest hurt again, but it wasn't a bad feeling at all.

'The End won't come soon at all. I'll be sure of it.'

* * *

That night, having settled everything in the house - though not unpacked - and their beds made up, the family went to sleep, while Yuki stayed on the pull-out couch.

Tadashi tried to get used to how loud it was at night. There wasn't much noise, but he didn't know these new sounds. He didn't understand the bells - which he later learned were from the trolleys - and Hiro seemed faraway on his side of the room.

'He's safe... but... He's too faraway.' Tadashi found himself shaking, his breath stuttering.

What if something happened? They found him before, when Shou and Naomi were alive. If they found him again, if Kenu _-nii_ broke out of jail and if Hiro got hurt-

'I can't... calm down...' Tadashi got out of bed and found his chest hurting again, but he knew what this feeling was: fear. He thought about the pictures that the officer had out on his desk when they were taken to the police station that night. Shou and Naomi didn't look human at all; they looked like the cat that got run over by a car that had ended up in front of their house when he was six. He...

Perhaps his human minds were getting old enough to partially overwhelm his true mind, and Tadashi didn't remember how he ended up vomiting into the toilet of his and Hiro's shared bathroom. The stench of it burned his nose and turned his stomach, making him vomit again.

The thoughts of the cat, of Shou and Naomi, and even of his mother; they frightened him so much, he wished that the human part of him that could  _fear_ didn't exist. He could protect Hiro better if he didn't think about his fear, if he wasn't human, if he wasn't so weak-

"Dashi?"

Tadashi lifted his head and saw Hiro rubbing his eyes in the doorway, loosely holding his teddy bear. He felt saliva on his chin, wiping at it with some toilet paper.

"Hi-Hiro?"

" _Nii-san_?" Tadashi reached over and flushed the toilet, standing up to go to the sink and brush his teeth. He ignored Hiro for the moment.

"Dashi?" Hiro asked again, pulling at his brother's shirt. "Dashi, why you crying?"

Tadashi turned to his younger brother, whose eyes were watery. Hiro, whose lip was quivering and shoulders were shaking, was going to cry. He remembered then.

'If I weren't human, I wouldn't love Hiro.'

Tadashi hugged Hiro close, soothing him with any words that came to mind. Hiro mimicked the soft touches, the caresses to his face, hair, back, and arms, all to help Tadashi in the same way. For a while, the house seemed peacefully silent. Nothing would haunt then in the night; no Bogeymen or assassins would would harm them. Tadashi and Hiro, while saying nothing, promised such to each other; they were all they had.

* * *

Two days later, when Tadashi started school and had bid Hiro a sorrowful "good-bye" with the promise of Gummy Bears if he was a good boy, he met a young girl, his class representative.

"Just ask me if you need anything, kid." The girl offered her hand in a sign of camaraderie. "My name's Abby."

Tadashi smiled, grasping her hand gently. "I'm Tadashi Hamada. It's nice to meet you."

The girl giggled. "I hope you like the seventh year, Tadashi Hamada."


	6. Good Fortune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment we learn to lie, is the moment we stop telling the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you much for your reading and comments. They are much appreciated and they keep me relaxed in contrast to my life at the moment :) You're all awesome and you make my life calmer in contrast to the world outside. Here's a long chapter for you and a catch-up to present-day BH6 :D

It was the day that Yuki drove him to school that Tadashi realized that his aunt and his "uncle" probably wanted to be like his parents - they wanted to be together in the special way that his human minds understood but his true one did not. Yuki had dared to kiss Cass on the cheek, teasing her with a "I'll take him to school, dear" like he usually did, but it was gentler today. It turned something inside of him, made him think of someone else.

The adults were close in interests. They talked about baking, the poems that they enjoyed writing; Tadashi had even caught Yuki whispering poems to Cass when he would come over for breakfast. He would press kisses to hands when he would bow low in greeting at the front door. Cass would blush, and when she wasn't busy, she would bow back and return the gesture. Tadashi wanted it, this irrational thing that Aunt Cass and Yuki were starting to have.

How did they seem to-

"-fit well together, and it's because of the multiples that we used to get 54 and 15."

Tadashi was brought back to his class lecture on the factoring of binomials and the basic use of pi by his teacher's voice. He looked down at his desk, where a packet had been placed.

"This is due tomorrow, class. There are 30 problems, and all of them are based on the notes for today and the ones from the previous chapter. Think of it as practice and review. Remember to show all of your work." Tadashi looked down at his sheet. This would be simple. He turned to his classmate Abby, who was smiling at him and holding up the stapled sheets like they were a paper fan. "While we have time, you may work in pairs to get started. Help each other on them, but not too loudly."

Without hesitation, Tadashi and Abby moved their desks together. Fifteen minutes would be enough to finish at least half of the packet each with the speed that they solved math problems. As they worked, they talked about mundane things, like the work that Abby's dad did in the philosophical community he was a part of and Tadashi's little brother. They always seemed to connect on whatever they spoke of, but Tadashi always had his attention on Hiro.

"He doesn't like strangers, though. If he felt better, I'd invite you over and we could all hang out," the eleven-year-old said. Abby shook her head.

"That's okay. He's only four, right? My mom said that little kids need their space like grown-ups do. It would be good to get him upset." Abby moved onto the next problem. "So we're factoring out '2y' here."

"Yeah, and we have two expressions right after."

Tadashi was glad that Abby never asked about Hiro aside from his well-being; Hiro was his baby brother, and he very much did not want to share his attention with anyone. Abby liked Tadashi enough, but it wasn't what he wanted.

* * *

"Wow! That's the answer?"

"Yes." Hiro doodled on his sketchpad and was smiling softly. He had always wondered what Tadashi's homework was like. He turned his head down to his picture and tried to make the cat in it fly. Maybe, if they got a cat, he could have rocket boots on it.

"Hey, boys," Aunt Cass greeted as she walked up the steps to the room that Tadashi and Hiro shared. "Yuki is coming over to have dinner with us and to visit for a while."

She was met with Tadashi exclaiming that Hiro was a genius. She grabbed the homework packet from Tadashi's hands and grabbed the sheet that Hiro was shyly holding up. The work matched, but one was definitely Hiro's handwriting. Cass smiled and asked Hiro if he could do another problem, this time without Tadashi near him.

Hiro looked slightly anxious as he worked on the next problem, sucking on his bottom lip while he scribbled. The numbers and variables weren't neat but Cass could read them well. After both boys were done with their work, Cass asked to look at them both.

The work was identical.

"Oh my goodness," the boys heard their aunt mumble. She went over the work one more time, Tadashi watching her carefully as Hiro began to draw something that he was covering with his arm. "Boys, I'm going to make sure dinner is ready. We'll show this to Yuki when he gets here, okay?"

"Okay," Tadashi answered as his aunt left his packet on his desk. He had only two problems left, as he'd put off his math in favor of working on his more abstract English homework. Occasionally, he watched Him draw a robot that flew and bubbly pictures of animals.

Hiro was getting smarter at an exponential rate. Tadashi could naturally do so, but his human minds were constantly battling for dominance over his true mind, leaving him somewhat lacking in fields such as symbolism and metaphors. Hiro could naturally understand these things, but even more so, Hiro understood math and science. Already, he could quote the value pi up to fifty digits.

At first it had seemed like the child had been memorizing, but Tadashi had shown him the equation for the area of a circle on a request of the child. Hiro had figured out the area without using a calculator, only writing down the numbers and not making one error. Tadashi had shown Aunt Cass and she had shown Yuki, just as she was going to do with this algebra problem that they had solved. He didn't know why Yuki needed to see it, save for the fact that the man was their uncle in every figurative and socially acceptable way - he wasn't Takano, Shou, nor Naomi's relative to his knowledge, and Aunt Cass had yet to be married.

" _Nii-san_!" Hiro broke Tadashi from his thoughts with another drawing. It was one of both siblings, smiling widely. It was a crude pictures, but Tadashi could pick out the features that made them hold the semblance to humanity. "Is it good?"

"Everything you do is good, Hiro."

Tadashi did understand that things had degrees of excellence, but there was truly nothing that Hiro could do wrong by him; Tadashi often wondered why that was, but his only answer was his chest hurting.

* * *

When they were called down to dinner, Hiro ran into his uncle's arms, and Tadashi had the sudden urge to charge Yuki out. There, Hiro was happy with being close to somebody besides Tadashi, which was good, as the four-year-old had been closed off from so many since their parents had passed away. There was still an ugly feeling inside of Tadashi, a feeling that he had never felt before. He wanted to  _hurt_ Yuki, hurt him for Hiro smiling at him. It didn't make any sense. It was illogical in every way that Tadashi wasn't programmed for.

He excused himself for a moment, going upstairs to "turn his computer off." He did smile at the irony of the phrase.

> > Yuki is like family.
> 
> > Yuki has not caused any damage to my nor Hiro's: mental health; physical health; emotional health.
> 
> > Yuki is not dangerous.
> 
> > It is illogical to consider attacking Yuki unless provoked.

'Why does my heart hurt?'

It was the only thought running through Tadashi's minds when he was downstairs again. He avoided everyone's eyes, as he was filled with a shame that he didn't completely understand. He did feel shame for wishing to hurt Yuki, yes, but something else was there. It was a feeling of shame that he did not wish to feel sorry for.

He spoke when spoken to, but he didn't try to begin any kind of talk. He didn't talk about how the teacher was writing letters about him possible moving up another grade. He didn't mention that he was signing up for high school classes soon and he needed choosing the different classes. There was nothing that he wanted to say that could possibly not excite those feelings of anger and of wanting to hurt things.

He wanted to break things.

He wanted to break everything that was around Hiro and keep him to himself.

'I think... I'm broken.'

He looked over to Hiro and felt that ire rise again. He saw the softness of the pre-schooler's face, the gentle messiness of his hair, and the brightness that Hiro had spread to his view of life, humanity, and its shortcomings. He could see the potential that humanity held, which had only seemed to grow the more he continued to live as a human.

'But I'm not.'

"Dashi?"

Tadashi lifted his head and met Hiro's face. The painful feeling got worse, but it felt different this time. It was a soothing kind of thing. Now, he wanted to say everything. He wanted to tell Aunt Cass and Yuki about school, about the sports festival that was coming, about the classes that he was signing up for, and about his teachers' possible decisions.

> > It's an illogical thing.

"Yeah, Hiro?"

"What do you do at school? I like your maths."

"Well..."

'Let me tell you everything.'

> > It feels right.

* * *

On the weekend, Tadashi decided to ride his bike with Hiro. He was helping him with the training wheels, making sure that they were there securely. He didn't want his baby brother hurt.

He didn't expect to be hurt.

One moment he was riding next to Hiro, then he hit the curb, and then pain-

Everything happened in fractions of hundredths of seconds. There was electricity and there was humanity, but Tadashi could not discern them.

> > C5 - T2 reactant; nocioreceptor activation. Triggering movement away from stimulus.
> 
>    > ERROR: C5 - T2 overstimulation; immobilization necessary; motor neurons [T3 - S4] contraction around media-lateral axis
> 
> > _Where's Hiro?_
> 
> > Nocioreceptors overstimulated; motor neurons interrupted. Initiation of calling mechanism [assess CRN 1-12], Moro reflex [all body; do not include LT C5 - T2 motor; assess VSL nerves], 
> 
>    > VSL nerves not damaged, skin integrity non damaged save for LT extremity: possible damage to O2 perfusion mechanisms to points distal to LT [ _D. tuberosity_ ]; possible damage to sensory neurons leading to points distal to LT [ _D. tuberosity_ ]; skin integrity of LT extremity damaged; loss of O2 perfusion certain; possibility for infection raised by 35% totaling 65%

"Tadashi?!" Hiro's voice was accompanied by a ringing in his ears. 

> > Assess auditory settings. Resetting auditory input mechanisms, adjusting decibel reception in accordance with data gathered in timeframe [Y0 - Y13]; adjusting pitch intervals
> 
> > _Where is Hiro? Is he safe? Someone must keep him safe!_

He could hear his aunt screaming and Yuki coming out and calling for an officer. Everything hurt, but it was all focusing on his left arm. His body didn't want to move. Everything was resetting.

> > _Hiro!_

The ambulance sirens weren't actually loud like they showed television.

* * *

Everything was reattached and manufactured parts of machines, things like him, made his flesh and metal flex and pull together again. His body had been forced to sleep in the strange setting of what his inner workings called "fainting spell." Using his remote access tech, his record logs showed that he had been administered a chemical of the sort that would render his organic form unconscious for a short period of time.

"Don't worry, Tada- _kun_ ," Yuki reassured him. "They believe your arm was an experimental prosthesis, a false arm. I've already cleared it with the surgeon as well. We're colleagues and drinking buddies. They were quite amazed by the bone and metal merging, but I've pushed their focus away from that."

Tadashi nodded and tried to rest. It was tiring, he learned, recovering from a surgical procedure. He would avoid getting harmed to this extent as he was able.

'For Hiro, too. I have to keep him safe... That was too much pain.'

"What exactly happened, Yuki- _jii_? How did they..." It occurred to Tadashi that humans that did not understand all of his inner workings were able to repair him. They were somehow able to repair the bone tissues and their alignments with his major nerves. The smaller nerves were replaced by his ganglionic wires and nerves, but humans - humans that were not like his mother, Shou, or Yuki - were able to  _fix_ him.

'Humans are amazing.'

He would never be as human as them.

> > I'll never be like Hiro.
> 
> > [anlyslkns.txt] Humans, like Cass and Yuki, bond with those  
>  with similar interests. IE: Cass and Shou with poems, music,  
>  baking. [Humans] also bond with those of complementing  
>  features, such as Shou and Takano, and Shou and Naomi. IE:  
>  debates over machine usage and biological means, red or white  
>  meat, X brand or Y brand. However, [humans] ultimately choose  
>  a partner [or partners? - investigate further when access is  
>  possible] that causes more happiness in them. This happiness  
>  is voluntary and does not relate to necessity, as humans [lacking  
>  of dependency on another for emotional stability] do not require  
>  the other's presence.
> 
> > I want to be like Hiro.
> 
> > [anlyslkns.txt] However, many relations between humans begin  
>  with similarities of some type.

"I think I want to... help people, Yuki- _jii_."

"That would be wonderful, Tadashi. I'm with you all the way." Yuki smiled at him with pride evident in his eyes. "Like a doctor?"

Tadashi looked down at his bedsheets. Did he want to be a doctor?

> > I'm not human.

"Tadashi?" Yuki's hand was warm and strong on his shoulder. It was a strength that Tadashi had no hope to emulate. He was all the things a human aspired to be, his aunt and Yuki had told him, naming his good traits of honesty, perseverance, and kindness. He was intelligent and a fast learner thanks to what he was.

However, he was a "What,"not a person.

* * *

> > KN4_c4 is not a person. Humans - and by extension of  
>  definition: people - are born of some organic process that may  
>  be assisted by manmade technology.
> 
> > KN4_c4 is not a person. Doctors - practitioners of medicine or  
>  physicians - are people, something which KN4_c4 is not.

It could receive auditory input. Input was reaching 65 decibels and it was increasing. It caused a sensation that its tympanic membrane, ossicles, and cochlea.

It felt its organic pumping mechanism receive signals from its electricity stimulating nodes to pump faster. In turn, those anatomies which captured diatomic molecules for energy in respiration, began to move at a faster rate. The baroreceptors in its largest artery responded in kind, tightening every blood vessel in its form.

> > Animals - defined as non-human which express sentience -  
>  are used for convenience and necessity. These animals also came  
>  into existence by natural means, which can be assisted by  
>  manmade technology.
> 
> > Technology is to serve its purpose.
> 
> > Humans have no use for it afterward.

Something was grabbing KN4_c4, but it could not interpret what the tactile sensation was. It could feel restraints, something covered in animal skin, against its forelimb joints.

"Tadashi!" a voice was screaming, the auditory input rendering KN4_c4's auditory sensors - that is, its tympanic membrane, ossicles, and cochlea - helpless as the sensation became recognized as one of discomfort. It also recognized that a repetitive sound, a beeping, was now absent and replaced with a continuous sound.

> > When KN4_c4 serves its purpose - to emulate humanity to the  
>  best of its abilities - it is no longer needed.
> 
> > However, KN4_c4 has expressed an interest in Hiro Hamada,  
>  who has been designated as its kin. It has not been programmed  
>  nor ordered.
> 
>     > According to social contracts, siblings may not engage in   
>      relationships outside of friendship and kinship. KN4_c4's desire  
>      to protect and possess Hiro Hamada are unethical, following   
>      social contracts - founded by humans and their kind, and are  
>      unspoken and spoken orders that are given to social participants  
>      by the society in which the subject resides.
> 
>     > Such behavior on account of KN4_c4's desire to possess Hiro  
>      Hamada conflict with [4lr.prgm.txt: pt2], rendering the [initl.drctv]  
>      void.
> 
> > Desire: Void

'I want.'

"Call a Rapid Response."

"Sheryl? What's going on?"

"His blood pressure is high. His O2 sat's dropping. Respers are 34 and heart's going 110."

The auditory inputs were increasing in quantity, more humans in the vicinity. The continuous sound became a loud beeping, each beep in rapid succession.

"Code Blue!"

Something began to crush its chest-space. This went on for a period of time, giving its organic minds some oxygen from the venous blood. A remarkable thing was this, as its organic anatomy desired, while its artificial anatomy did not. The auditory input was almost out of audible range, but KN4_c4 did hear it, did interpret it. Things moved from its organic flesh, but some things that its system had not noticed stayed stagnant on its flesh.

"All clear!"

Its pumping mechanism was shocked by a great surge of energy, and it continued the rhythm that it had begun in [Y2] for only a moment before ceasing.

"Damn it!"

Its chest was being crushed again.

"Where's the Epi?"

"Epinephrine 1 to 10,000 solution. Weight 54 kilos. Administering 0.54 mg as verified by charge."

> > To develop emulation of human emotion and desire is what is  
>  outlined by [takachiho_mgmt] in [Y0]
> 
> > initl.drctv: KN4_cx [current:_c4] shall seek autonomy in accordance  
>      with behaviours learnt while interacting with humankind in such a  
>      way that it interacts with humankind as though it were humankind  
>      while acting within 4lr.prgm.txt.
> 
> > Goal for autonomy: Achieved
> 
> > [System Standby]

Its system was fading out of immediate program running and into background data.

"Tadashi! Stay with us, buddy!"

"All clear!"

Another surge of energy.

"Dr. Peterson, you are intubating?"

"Yes. Time is 1545. Get me by his head now."

There was something in the back of KN4_c4's mind.

> > There are few options now: Terminate or designate new initiative?
> 
> > Is new initiative in line with initl.drctv?
> 
> > New initiative possible.
> 
> > ...
> 
> > ...

"Tada..." There was a surge of air rushed into its pulmonary tissues, oxygen being forced into the small capillaries of his lungs and being pumped forcibly into its shocked pumping mechanism. 

"Intubating. Be ready with the ambu-bag!"

And it had its last clear thought, as a stiff plastic thing was inserted into its organic windpipe by means of the metal object there. It had no gag reflex in the moment.

> > ...
> 
> > H...

"He's got a rhythm! Sinus tachy at 158!"

"Send him to ICU now!"

> > DATA CORRUPTION

* * *

> ...

> De-fragmenting...

> 10% ...

> 14% ...

> >  **Mother:**  Tadashi, what is sound to you?
> 
> > I have no interpretation of sound at the moment. I  
>  know that sound travels in waves. Mother, how do you  
>  perceive sound?
> 
> >  **Mother:**  It can be loud and hurt your ears, or it can be  
>  quiet and help you go to sleep at night.
> 
> > Really? Sound could help people sleep? That's amazing,  
>  especially if the same experience can change just with  
>  loudness. I hope I get to hear it someday.
> 
> >  **Mother:**  Don't worry. Yuki-kun and I are working on  
>  something to help you with that. Is that all right, Tadashi?
> 
> > Mother, you don't have to.
> 
> >  **Mother:** But I want to. I love you, Tadashi.

> 19%

> > Love?
> 
> >  **Mother** : I told you what love is like.
> 
> > Yes... Will I have someone to love, like you said about  
>  Shou? I will find the one that I desire beyond logic, and thus,  
>  beyond what makes me Tadashi?
> 
> >  **Mother:** Yes. I certainly hope that it happens for you. It's  
>  an amazing thing that is so simple, and so complicated.

> 24%

> ...

> ...

> ...

> 49%

> >  **Hiro:** Dashi?
> 
> > Yes, Hiro?
> 
> >  **Hiro** : Do you love me?
> 
> > Of course I do. [Verification: Verbal output not verified]
> 
> >  **Hiro** : Why?
> 
> > Because... Big brothers love their little brothers. That's  
>  what they are supposed to do. I "want" to love you. I want to  
>  see you get big and strong. Even if you don't, though, I'll  
>  always love you.
> 
> >  **Hiro** : Why?
> 
> > Because you're Hiro. There's no-one like you in the world.  
>  No-one will love you more than I do. I saw you after you came  
>  out of Mom's belly, and I was so happy that I could hardly  
>  sleep that night.
> 
> >  **Hiro** : Was I cute?
> 
> > You were wrinkly-looking, but you've always been the  
>  cutest to me.
> 
> >  **Hiro:** [Clarification: Hiro's expression indicates pouting;  
>  clarify if answer not provided] Even more than Abby?
> 
> > Even more than Abby. [Deliver returning action - embrace]  
>  She's just my friend, but you're my brother, and that's special.
> 
> >  **Hiro** : [Verification: Returned delivered action - embrace]  
>  You're my Dashi.
> 
> > And you're my Hiro.
> 
> > 79%

> ...

> 85%

> > Hiro.

> Expression of ownership: autonomous

> Autonomy reached.

> Following autonomy: Next task of KN4_c4?

> > Hiro.

> 99%

>DATA CORRUPTION: RESOLVED

* * *

 

"He's doing great with the vent at this low setting. He's pretty much breathing on his own."

"When can it be taken out?"

'Yuki?'

"If he can hold his head up for about 30 seconds."

'Isn't that... What I'm doing?'

When Tadashi opened his eyes, he felt a warm hand on his. His aunt Cass was looking down on him, eyes gleaming with worry. He saw her gasp and turn to someone else in the room. It was a doctor, who called for the nearby respiratory therapist as soon as he saw that Tadashi was holding his head above the bed. This was timed and soon the artificial airway was removed.

The nurse documented this and did a quick assessment. He left for several medications and his computer, telling Tadashi to press the red nurse button if he needed him or wanted to see him. Tadashi nodded.

Yuki came into Tadashi's field of vision and Tadashi felt calmer than he had before he had "fainted."

"Yu... _Jii_?" Tadashi's voice was a whisper.

"Hey, buddy," Yuki whispered. Cass was walking out the door, calling for somebody, the nurse.

"I don't... wanna be a doctor."

Yuki nodded. "That's okay," the man said, voice sounding hoarse. It seemed as though something was stuck there in his throat. "Be whatever you want."

"I want to make someone for Hiro." Tadashi frowned at the pain in his throat. He looked around for a drink of water with his eyes, not wishing to sit up anymore for the swirling in his ears. The sky was darker, as he could tell from the window's view. There was none, and he looked to Yuki with some disappointment. He quickly changed his mood when he looked upon Yuki.

The man's eyes were wide with awe and surprise. He seemed older than he did that morning, somehow, and Tadashi could tell that the stress of what happened over the course of the day did not help.

"Someone?"

"Not like me," Tadashi confessed. "It will learn faster like me...  have some sense of autonomy like me... It'll be his friend and take care of him, but..."

"But what?"

"It won't be able to fall in love."

Tadashi couldn't bear to answer more questions and turned away from his uncle, responding to the nurse that walked into ICU 4.

> > Love is too painful to bear.
> 
> > Curse you, Mother, for your blessings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Medical Code: I'm a nurse so this is my short-hand for the "Singular" verse.  
> C/T/L/S# are nerves that make up your spinal cord: Cranial, Thoracic, Lumbar, Sacral.  
> Nocioreceptors are pain receptors.  
> The short hand [VSL] is visceral/organ nerves.  
> The Moro reflex, or the startle reflex, is a basic one that is seen within the immediate post-partum period and can also be seen in utero.  
> [D. tuberosity] is the deltoid tuberosity of the humerus, which is at about the halfway point from the shoulder to the elbow.
> 
> -jii: Literally refers to one's uncle, but also used to refer to middle-aged adults with whom the speaker is already acquainted. Changing it to -jichan denotes familiarity. Not seen as insulting unless the person is sensitive about their age.
> 
> * Rapid response is called whenever the patient is off or the nurse/family/patient is concerned with patient condition, though many other things apply. They are aimed at preventing respiratory/cardiac arrest.  
> * Code Blue is cardiac arrest.  
> * Language would never be so vague in this kind of situation, but Tadashi is losing consciousness and these clinicians all know each other. Let's imagine this as efficient.
> 
> *And here is the conception of Baymax.


	7. Arrogant Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work, school, bills, life, work, school, bills, life... Fun is the adult life.

Two years passed... and Tadashi was wondering how much more memory his Y drivers had. Y15 was halfway through and his hardware, his mother had told him, was alterable, that Yuki could attach more memory to it. He was afraid of any changes, though, to something so fragile.

"Ah!" Tadashi threw his hands up in the air for the third time that week. Even with the coding his mother had programmed into him, he couldn't build a simple companion for his brother.

> > mgmt_file: UNABLE TO EDIT

"Maybe I should let Yuki put patches in me..." he mumbled. Tadashi sighed. He couldn't leave love out of programming; it was what he and the KN4 series were really about. He wasn't even the first, he knew, and it didn't make him any different than K-

"Tadashi!" The boy fell out of his seat at his aunt's voice, Cass hurrying faster up the stairs when she heard her nephew fall. "Honey, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah... Just working." Tadashi stood shakily.

> > Reestablishing equilibrium. Lower extremities intact, tone intact, no injury detected. Maneuver into standing position.

"What's up?"

Cass smiled. "There's a girl here for you. She said to tell you that June was here and-"

"What?!"

Cass had never seen Tadashi run so fast towards someone who wasn't his brother.

* * *

"Come on, slowpoke." Min-Joon Gangjeon, or June, was a girl that Tadashi had become friends with at a robotics workshop at school, not too long after he had broken his arm. She was a nice girl, the only female child among five boys. She'd drawn lightning bolts on his cast, wishing him a speedy - "lightning fast" - recovery. Tadashi appreciated the thought.

Tadashi winced as June playfully punched him in the arm. "Hey!"

"What's with you, Tadashi?" June ran her fingers through her short hair for a moment, the wind blowing her bangs into her face for the umpteenth time. Maybe she would cut it shorter, like she always spoke about. "Have you been working on that robotics project that you've been talking about?"

"Yeah..." Tadashi sighed. "I can't seem to get the bugs out of it. The program I have on file to build off of and reverse engineer is too complicated to work on with school exams coming up."

"And this project isn't helping either, is it?" June smiled. Their next science project - one involving research, interviewing of professionals with valid credentials, and creativity - was due in a week, and it had been wearing them all out. It was just a blessing to have so many people working together, but with their own lives and schedules, it was hard to find a good time for all of them to meet up.

"Not at all..." Tadashi confirmed. They got onto the street car and went on their way to their meeting place that was in the Barrio.

The Barrio was a part of San Fransokyo where there were gates in front of every house and the walls seemed to be of cement painted with brighter colors. The Japanese influence did and didn't seem out of place here; at least everyone could pronounce things correctly.

One certain house, the second house on the right on Zapata Road, had a girl waiting outside the gate. Her blonde hair made her stick out against the mural behind her. _  
_

"Hi, guys! You made it!"

"Hi, Caridad," Tadashi greeted. June gave the girl a hug and a light punch on the shoulder.

"Cari, why are you waiting here outside?"

Caridad laughed. "Sometimes people have trouble finding my house. My mom's also cleaning the porch a bit. Come on, Hassan and Fred are already here. They're eating some snacks right now." She bade them enter and opened the gate behind her.

* * *

"So, 'the advancements of Japan's robotics paved the way for innovations in the field of medical robots, much like the robotic laproscopic surgeries that are used in the United States. However, these robots are programmed not only to follow a procedure, but they also have safety measures in place for when a procedure goes wrong due to faults of its own programming or if the patient themselves is at a greater risk for injury.'"

"Ooh, that sounds neat." Tadashi smiled at Fred, who continued to draw fantastic things around the graphs and pictures on their poster board. "So that's what they're doing in the hospitals now?"

"Yeah. My brother had to have his appendix taken out a few months ago." Hassan rearranged the borders, being the "neat-freak" that everyone in their class called him. Tadashi found his somewhat neurotic behavior charming. It suited him somehow. "They made one incision and got it out no problem."

"Okay. So we have the good things that robotics can give us," Caridad listed, striking out the line on a piece of paper. "Safety measures... History... We have the fields that robotics can be used in. What about 'ethical issues'?"

June popped part of a marzipan candy into her mouth, some of the powder sticking to her lips. "Robo-ethics... I think we can visit SFIT for that."

"SFIT?" Caridad wrote down the acronym for the local technical institute. "Did you have a name for anybody there that we should talk to?"

"Tadashi knows somebody."

Everyone stopped and turned to Tadashi.

> > Exercise caution. "Tension" detected.

"Umm? Who do I know?"

June sighed, throwing her arms up. "The bot fighter! You talk about her all the time!"

Tadashi blinked at her. He thought that she had been tuning him out when he talked about his other friend. "You mean Abby? She is at the school today."

"Sweet!" Fred jumped up in excitement, Hassan quickly catching the rubber cement bottle before it spilled on the poster board. "She bot fights?! Does she do the tournaments or-" Fred hid the lower half of his face with his sleeve, "does she do the shady kind of bot fights?"

Tadashi stood up, gathering his notes. "She does tournaments mostly. Her dad works at SFIT and she makes her bots there."

"What are we waiting for?" Caridad squealed, running to get her bag and phone. Tadashi noticed the SFIT Kids Camp button on one of the pockets of her bag. "Let's go!"

* * *

"How old is she?"

"Seventeen. She's graduating this year from SF High, but she has classes here."

Hassan hummed, a pensive look on his face. "Wait. 'Abby'?"

"Yeah," Tadashi affirmed, nodding as they hopped off of the streetcar at SFIT. "Why? Do you know her?"

Hassan couldn't answer, not as Fred zoomed past them, yelling about science. The other four children ran to catch him, crying out for him to slow down.

"Fred! Watch out!"

"Wha- Oof!"

"Ah!"

When June, Caridad, Hassan, and Tadashi reached their friend, Fred was already helping the person he had bumped into up from the ground.

"Gosh, I'm really sorry."

The young woman laughed, taking up his offered hand. "Don't worry. I'm a bot-fighter. It takes more than that to rattle me."

"A bot fighter?" Fred smiled. "Hey, are you Abby?"

The woman tilted her head. "Yeah? Who are you?"

Tadashi stepped in at that moment. "Hi, Abby."

Abby turned around. "Tadashi!" She gave him a warm embrace. "How's it going? How's Hiro?"

"We've been good." Tadashi turned to his friends and introduced each one. Everyone politely greeted her, save for Fred whose face was pink with embarrassment and excitement.

Hassan was rather quiet after his greeting before asking a question.

"Abigail, right?"

"... Yeah."

"Abigail Callaghan?"

"Yeah, that's me." Abby shifted her weight to her other leg. "Why?"

Hassan turned to Tadashi with shocked eyes. "You know Robert Callaghan's daughter?!"

Tadashi jumped in surprise. Hassan rarely raised his voice, acting more like a softly-spoken, and stereotypical, Zen Buddhist monk than anything else. "Yes, I do."

"Callaghan's Laws of Robotics?! Does that ring any bells?! This is what we need for our project. 'An interview with a leader in the field'!"

June and Caridad smiled, a spark in their eyes. They had made a list of questions that were to be emailed to the leader they would choose. To do it in person, that would be more impressive yet.

Abigail smiled. "Is it that Science and Ethics project from Grade 10? If it's robotics, my dad can help you out no problem!"

* * *

Robert Callaghan was a kind man. After his lecture on Aerodynamic Applications and his demonstration of applications on his new Magnetic-Bearing Servos, the young students were shown around his lab and had the chance to see some of his robotics projects that the college students were shown.

The day was spent refining the prestige source of their project, and when that was over, the children asked about admission to SFIT. 

"We have an open house in the summer and a summer camp for kids your age," Dr. Callaghan explained, smile widening at the eager faces. He went on to explain the different fields that they could specialize in, such as transportation, industry, and engineering.

"What about medicine?" Tadashi asked.

"We don't have too many students in the Medical Program at the moment. They mostly focus on physical and occupational therapy."

> > Deferring to other sources. USF; UCLA; consider international sources.

"That's not to say that there isn't a possibility that for more in the program." Dr. Callaghan set a hand on Tadashi's shoulder, an affectionate but welcome gesture. "You've known Abby for a long time, and I remember her mentioning that you wanted to go into the medical-robotic field. I've been thinking about expanding the program; maybe you kids can help out with that."

"Really?" Caridad squealed. She had known about Tadashi's medical robot ideas, and to help make her friend's dream come true would be so wonderful.

"Yes." Dr. Callaghan invited them to come to the SFIT Expo that would take place in November, and they could present their project on the applications of robotics at the beginning of the Expo itself.

They thanked the professor for his time and quickly went on their way, as the sun was beginning to make its descent in the sky. Tadashi and Abby spoke a bit about their home lives, especially Hiro and their new cat Mochi. Soon, she went on her own way while Tadashi admired her new botfighter.

"You know, son, you look familiar." Tadashi looked up to Dr. Callaghan, who had a pensive look on his face and a trace of sadness in his eye.

"I do?"

"I know you live with your aunt, but may I ask what your parents' names are?"

"... Shou and Naomi Hamada."

Dr. Callaghan nodded slightly. "My condolences. You reminded me of one of my colleagues that passed away many years ago. You seem as excited as she did when she came to school here. We studied under Professor Itou Ishioka here."

Tadashi nodded, trying to ignore his true mind for a moment.

> > Itou Ishioka.

"You look a lot like her, actually."

> > Father of Silica-Biomesh. Pioneer in Robo-Medics. Able to develop techniques to allow nervous impulses to purposefully control robotic arms and legs in prosthetics.

"Th-Thanks. Have a good night, Professor."

* * *

> _> Hello, mother._
> 
> _> Hello, Tadashi. Have you been keeping yourself occupied?_
> 
> _> I was looking up information on what you, Yuki-san, Kenu-nii, and Shingen-Oyabun are doing._
> 
> _> Oh? What have you found?_
> 
> _> disp: [itou.ishioka.png], [sbiomesh.proto.png]_
> 
> _> That's what we are doing for you, yes. Eventually, Ken-chan, Akko-kun, and Lei-chan will go through this as well. _
> 
> _> Akko-kun? Lei-chan?_
> 
> _> Think of them as your older siblings, just like Ken-chan. Akoya was the first. Ken was the second, and Leyu was the third. You are the youngest._
> 
> _> I have more siblings than just Kenu-nii? Mother, this is making my mind think of more possibilities of when I see them. Almost too quickly to process._
> 
> _> You are excited!_
> 
> _> Excited?_
> 
> _ > Excited: very enthusiastic and eager_
> 
> _> Yes, mother. I am very excited! Mother, how will I look?_
> 
> _> I talked with your father, with my Shou._
> 
> _> Your male-spouse? What did he say?_
> 
> _> You will look like him, and you will have my eyes._
> 
> _> Really? When I see a reflective surface, I will see part of you. Mother, I feel more excited now!_
> 
> _> I'm glad. Tadashi, I can't wait to meet you. Your brothers and sister can't wait either._
> 
> _> Tell them I can't wait to meet them either._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I made names for the rest of the team based on given Japanese names, cultural statistics, and some fanon. Most of these names have somewhat arrogant meanings behind them, so I decided to name chapter as such.
> 
> *When saying "stereotypical for monks", I refer to a time when I met some Catholic monks through church. Best dodge-ball players ever.
> 
> *Now we know who Kenu-nii is. Everyone start the tears.


	8. Warmth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of the Tadashi chapters for now.
> 
> Here is the Hidashi [Rated M for mature - we go about 50% of the way]. I owe you guys for your patience and support.  
> BTW, does anyone want a comic version of this? Leave a comment, yes?

Tadashi was finding himself distant from Hiro as they grew older. The boy was suffering from bullies in school, due to the praise from teachers and the students' envy. Tadashi did what he could; he started trying to pick up his twelve-year-old brother from the classroom, but of course, it had sent Hiro into a tirade of anger towards him, something that Tadashi was getting used to seeing.

> > Commonly, adolescents show anger rather than sadness when conquering depression.

"I don't need your help with this, Tadashi!"

"Then what are you planning on doing? You said you didn't want to go to the teachers because they wouldn't do anything; you don't want to go to the counselor because they won't do anything! If you're in another fight, Hiro, you'll be suspended." Tadashi found himself between a rock and a hard place now. His brother only looked him in the eyes when he was angry at Tadashi. When Hiro was happy, which was getting a bit more rare than before.

"I don't know!" Hiro threw the book he was reading at the wall. It fell to the book with a heavy and hard bump. "Maybe I just don't to be in school any-more! The teachers aren't teaching me anything and my classmates are all idiots! How about that?!"

> > Contradiction.

Tadashi blinked at that. "Hiro, what else is going on? We weren't talking about your teachers here. We're talking about the bullies. Are the teachers bullying you?"

Hiro looked down at his toes, curling them down into the blankets. "They don't care. If I keep getting good grades and impressing everyone else, what's a few bruises? Nothing on their reputations."

>  > Hesitance.

"Hiro. We can go to a different school-"

"Just let me finish there." Hiro's shoulders were shaking, even when Tadashi wrapped him in a hug. "Please."

* * *

"I think Hiro needs to get into a different program, Cass." Yuki washed the cabbage like Cass told him to, trying to not ruin anything in the kitchen. He really didn't know when to put the cabbage in her beef stew, and he had messed up every time that he tried.

"He wants to finish here, Yuki," she replied softly. She let out a heavy sigh, removing her hands from the cutting board and setting them on the counter. She leaned back on her heels, the knife in her right hand precariously still in her grip. "It's four months, and he wants to finish here. He won't listen to me or Tadashi."

"He's only thirteen, Cass."

"I know." Cass cleared her throat. "He's a little kid. I know he keeps trying, despite the bullying, but if I make him change schools, what will that do, Yu?"

"He either will hate you for a while or he'll thank you."

* * *

"Why don't you come to SFIT with me?" Tadashi was rubbing small circles on his brother's back as he held his brother. Hiro's shaking actually grew somewhat worse. "I've been there for a few months now, and I really enjoy it."

"... You'll hate me."

"Hiro," Tadashi said sternly. "I could never hate you. I might not like some of the things you do, but I will always love you."

Hiro shivered at that and started to push him away, but Tadashi held on.

"Hiro, what's wrong?"

"L-Let me go, Tadashi!" Hiro's face was pink and warm and so many of those things that Tadashi always tried to ignore. They were the adjectives that, when applied to Hiro, Tadashi felt his organic self reacting to. Not in this situation, thank God, because of the tears, but this was getting to be more and more of a problem.

Hiro wouldn't let Tadashi comfort him anymore.

> > Primary directive: Love Hiro.
> 
> > Hiro's denial of care is detrimental to Primary directive.

'Shut up.' Tadashi reached for Hiro's legs and lifted his younger brother up, ignoring the boy's protests... until it faded to silence.

"Hiro?" He set his little brother on the bed and Hiro looked down at his shorts, suddenly amazed at the Polyester-Cotton-Nylon fabric. Tadashi sighed and sat down next to him, threading his fingers through the dark tresses of hair that were downy soft against his fingers. "Hiro, talk to me."

"..." Hiro lifted his head up, just so that their gazes could barely meet and those feelings that Tadashi desperately tried to ignore as to not cause any problems between them.

He would always love his brother, always love Hiro, but never the way in which he wanted to, would Tadashi dare to love his brother. He sighed, trying to let out heat from his body, trying to keep his body calm, because his mind was definitely stronger than his body.

Right?

"I... I can graduate this year." Hiro's voice cut through to his mind. "Just... I just need a bit of time and I'll leave the school, a graduate."

Tadashi sighed out another bit of heat, and he nodded, burying his nose in his brother's hair, trying to show innocent affection.

"... Okay."

> > Illogical.
> 
> > _But it's for Hiro._

"Come on. Let's go downstairs to eat with Aunt Cass."

"..."

"She's worried, too, Hiro."

Hiro sighed, nodding.

"She loves you."

Hiro smiled, asking, "And you love me, too, right Tadashi?"

Tadashi felt his body freeze. Under Hiro's words and eyes, he was lifeless, as lifeless as his metal bones and clockwork brain.

"O-Of course. I love you, Hiro."

He didn't think anything of Hiro's smile.

* * *

 

Dinner went by without an issue. Yuki and Hiro were talking about possible college programs for him to enroll in. Cass laughed as Hiro fully enjoyed the chicken wings even though the hot sauce was practically melting his face with how hot it was.

Tadashi smiled as his brother smiled. Hiro... wouldn't really look at him for too long, but it was enough.

They went back to their room, and Hiro still looked at him in a weird way and wouldn't talk too much to him, but it was enough.

It was enough.

* * *

They were separated by the paper curtain, the same thing that had kept them separated with the illusion of privacy, the same thing that Tadashi had put between them years ago when he wanted to touch his brother in ways that weren't so normal anymore.

Hiro was supposed to be asleep now.

Tadashi was supposed to have pulled the curtain all the way, so that the little sliver of view that he had right now from their shared bathroom wasn't in existence.

Tadashi watched through that crack, as Hiro arched off of his bed, the small towel that he had stuffed into his mouth barely holding back any noise that was coming out of his small throat, from those small lungs that Tadashi could crush in his mechanical grip. The more Tadashi watched, the more he realized how futile it all was. The brain inside of his head that was purely methodical and logical began to fade, and he felt so frightened. He was getting lost to the emotions and sensations that he'd always been running away from, the ones that he had been resisting since his brother was born.

> > S2-4 stimulation; increase in O2 perfusion by 10%.

Tadashi felt dizzy and leaned back from the crack between the bathroom door and its respective door frame. His brother was touching and groping and moaning-

> > S2-4 stimulation; adrenal glands receiving vasopressin from [APG]. Ocular muscles seeking stimulation; vasotocin increasing.

Tadashi closed his eyes, biting his lip. He could still see everything: the sweat on Hiro's brow, on that small chest, the contraction of each muscle, the hand around that beautiful-

> > Oxytocin released; [unknown hormone] released.

He savored each moan from those pert lips, those lips that years ago had gummed his fingers, would press kisses to his cheeks - occasionally to the mouth if Hiro would miss - and always created beautiful smiles and birthed cruel words. Sharp intakes of air, gentle gasps, caught on Tadashi's ears, and he let out a soft sob.

'Why? My brain is still working! Why can't I stop?!' Tadashi looked down at his pajama pants and he saw the ever-identified tent of an erection. His hands were shaking and he closed his eyes again, tipping his head back, just to try and get away from it. His fingers were on his abdomen, as he'd forgone a shirt before bed, and now they were venturing lower...

Lower...

Tadashi let out a groan as his fingers found the hard flesh and he let them wrap around the bulge, massaging the sensitive flesh.

> > ...

He couldn't think at all; he was rubbing his hand over all of it now, trying to find this friction that reminded him of his broken arm from four years ago but was as sweet as Aunt Cass's desserts. His mind was going everywhere, to any thought of Hiro on his cranky days to the thoughts - the daydreams and nightmares - of getting lost inside of Hiro, of having Hiro's warm body on him, on his cock, and that body would be a welcome sheath. He'd read enough books and gotten enough data on coitus that he knew what was happening to his body and what would happen to any partner that he would have, but he didn't think that his mind - his mechanical, inorganic,  _non-human_ mind - would have the capacity to handle the onslaught of an orgasm.

If it did, then he'd record it and be content with the sensation... It would never have to happen-

Tadashi felt coolness on his neck and he snapped his head forward, crying out as he collided with something hard and bony.

> > [SYSTEM ERROR]

"Dude, what the Hell?" came the sharp whisper.

Tadashi opened his eyes. Brown - familiar, warm, beautiful - eyes stared back at him.

"...Hi-Hiro?" Tadashi gasped out the name and he quickly glanced down to see not only that his hand was now in his pants.

Not only was Hiro in front of him.

Hiro was naked and hard and wanting and those lips were on his and nothing meant anything anymore.

His hands were large compared to Hiro's, but Tadashi still felt small in his brother's embrace, feeling so young compared to the teenager that was holding him and embracing him, drowning him.

He was dying... again.

> > [SYSTEM ERROR]
> 
> > Tactile sensations to S2-4.

He was dying!

> > Overload S2-4.
> 
> >  _Hiro!_
> 
> > [OVERLOAD]

* * *

 

> > [Waking...]
> 
> > [Waking...]
> 
> > [Awareness.]

Tadashi woke up with a cool washcloth on his forehead... and his head on Hiro's lap.

"Hiro?"

The smaller boy was looking down at him with wide, curious, and playful eyes.

"Tadashi... Are you okay?" The voice was a whisper, a soft and shy whisper.

"Y-Yeah..." Suddenly, everything came back to Tadashi. The sounds, the sights, the tastes... Oh God, the tastes. He pushed himself up, and he didn't care that he almost hit Hiro's head with his own. Hiro was backed up against the wall of the bathroom, and Tadashi was surprised that the scent of sweat and Hiro on his own skin.

> > Reorienting. Cochlear sensations gathered, cerebellar sensations gathered. Balance.

He blinked several times. Tadashi looked to his baby brother, his brother that was half of his blood and whose natural mind superseded his first one.

"Hiro?"

"And you're Tadashi." Hiro scooted closer him, with an innocent, slightly pouted mouth that Tadashi couldn't stop staring at. "You're my  _nii-chan_."

Tadashi shivered at how Hiro's tongue carefully launched itself off of the roof of his mouth. That mouth had been soft against his own and he could barely understand how he had not died. Hiro's mouth was closer and closer and it was on his again. He was shivering in Tadashi's grasp, the grasp that had come into existence outside of Tadashi's knowledge, but that was impossible, right?

Their tongues were pressing against each other and Hiro was making little noises that sounded like the first noises that Tadashi had ever heard; it was a flute, and soft flutes were his mother's favorite instruments.

It felt warm.

It felt like love.

It felt like heartache.

> > Warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vasopressin: Also known as ADH/Anti-diuretic hormone, it allows for less emotional responses and enhances memory
> 
> * Vasotocin in animals is found in males and promotes singing, mate-bonding/guarding, and is found in the human visual system, which may explain why young men definitely /look/ for beautiful mates.
> 
> Oxytocin: "The love hormone," plays a role in breastfeeding, sex, and impairing memory and learning by emphasizing emotional response.
> 
> [Unknown hormone]: Isotocin is found more in animals. It has yet to be investigated in humans; however, it does have to do with females responding to mating calls, which could be an explanation to why many young women like to swoon over singers and voices.

**Author's Note:**

> Suffixes found in this story are most likely honorifics used in Japanese language. These honorifics have different meanings depending on the speech (formal/informal), the setting, and the people involved in conversation.
> 
> \- kun: Most commonly seen in addressing young men and boys, this honorific can also be used among colleagues regardless of sex or gender.  
> \- san: This honorific is most analogous to the English "Mr/Miss/Mrs/Ms" and is seen as gender-neutral.  
> (no honorific): A lack of honorific can be seen as intimate between close friends and family or disrespectful in formal situations or when used to address those of a higher station, especially without permission.


End file.
